


The More Things Change

by still_lycoris



Category: Welcome to the Punch (2013)
Genre: Gen, Post-Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 08:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6277027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/still_lycoris/pseuds/still_lycoris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max tries to prepare himself for prison. Sternwood has other ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The More Things Change

He doesn’t think that he actually cares all that much about going to prison.

Which is fucking stupid because if he isn’t killed for being a cop (ex-cop), he’ll have the shit kicked out of him for being a cop (ex-cop) and if _that_ doesn’t happen, it’s solitary confinement to avoid having the shit kicked out of him for being a cop ( _ex_ -cop). For some shit that he didn’t do. And some that he did but mostly the shit that he didn’t.

Might not be so bad, being alone. Isn’t everyone fucking alone in the end? Even when you’ve got people around you, people you think you know and can trust …

Yeah. Well. Fuck.

His leg hurts. Probably going to get worse. They talked about this to him but he hadn’t bothered to listen. What’s the point? He probably won’t actually live long enough for it to matter anyway. He’s not even sure he cares about that either. Sarah was right. Nothing’s changed. Maybe not for the reason she thought it wouldn’t – she probably wasn’t really expecting him to end up in jail for her murder, yeah, that probably wasn’t right in the front of her mind when she was talking about everything and yeah, she probably didn’t fucking expect for him to let Sternwood go either after it all but that’s not even the fucking _point_ , the fucking point is that when everything changed, nothing changed. Because even though he didn’t know it, he was always screwed over, always _fucked_ and now he’s just going to be even more fucked than before.

He closes his eyes. The van’s slowing. Must be getting to the prison. He stretches his leg out a bit, determined that he won’t stumble when he gets out, determined to look good at least. Might all be going to hell but a man’s got _some_ pride.

There’s a bang outside, too loud for a door or a gate. Another bang and the whole van shakes and he’s on his feet because something’s going down and he doesn’t know what because he can’t see but he’s alert and that’s something and he wishes he had a goddamn gun.

There’s a lot of stuff happening outside now. Banging and crashing and it all sounds crazy fucked up out there and fuck knows what’s happening but it can’t be good, it really can’t – 

He hears the door open. Then the door to his “cell” opens and there’s bright light in his eyes and he can’t see what’s happening at first and then someone’s grabbed his arm and is unfastening his manacles and he doesn’t struggle because he’s not stupid but he’s trying to blink the light away, trying to see what’s happening.

“Move, for fuck’s sake!”

His fucking leg almost buckles under him but whoever it is clearly knows about it because they grab him under the arms and basically hold him up as they move. He gets a brief glimpse around, of the guards that are on the ground (dead? Dying? Can’t tell, can’t see enough) and then he’s thrown into another van and the door closes and he looks up and it’s Sternwood. Because of course it fucking is.

“What the _fuck_ have you done?!”

He screams it and Sternwood just looked at him like he’s an idiot and he’s so fucking pissed off at everything that he just jumps on him and it’s like the first time, rolling around in the back of a van and punching each other, only he’s got even less fucking strength than before and his leg _hurts_ and he ends up with Sternwood sitting on top of him and looking down at him and he fucking _hates_ this bastard, he hates the fucker so much –

“A bit of gratitude wouldn’t go amiss,” Sternwood points out. “You wouldn’t have made it five minutes in prison. Even if the prisoners hadn’t killed you, some higher-up would have had you quietly killed for everything you know.”

“I didn’t ask you to save me! I didn’t ask you for anything!”

Sternwood gets off him and he sits up slowly, realising that he’s shaking. His leg hurts and his head hurts and he’s on the run with a bastard who not so long ago, he’d have given his soul to lock away in prison for the rest of his life.

It’s laughing or crying time so he picks laughing, putting his head in his hands as he does. He knows Sternwood is looking at him, probably wondering if he’s a fucking nutter.

Maybe he is. 

He leans back against the side of the van and to his surprise, Sternwood is next to him and puts his hand on his shoulder. His hand is warm and Max realises that he doesn’t actually want to jerk away from it.

Maybe some things _do_ change.


End file.
